Furniture leg glider



1951 P. D. BECKER 2,564,635

FURNITURE LEG GLIDER Filed April 5, 1949 FIG.|. I FIGLB.

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III/IIII/III/I/IIIII INVENTOR. PHILIP D. BECKER,

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ATTORNEY.

Patentecl Aug. 14, 1951 FURNI'l-URE LEG GLIDER rhil n e tsn in Mass asignor t U ie -Ca Fa ener Corporation, Cambridge,

Mass, a. cbrporaltidi of Massachusetts Application April 5, 1949, SerialNo. 85,697

The present, invention relates generally to,

furnitur leg lider and has. pa ticu ar refer: e eio h tyn d pt d tabsinser ed in. tubular metal furniture legs.

One. of the objects, ofthe, invention i the provision ofa furn ture lee,sl der having a cush on. member interposed between he l der shoe andfurniture. lee pe m tt sirela ive ial ncr ment of the leg andglider withimproved means for securing the glider to the furniture leg.

A. further bject o e. n ntion is e a e: vision of a s e having a. ovecqnstr ci pn f suppor n m mber or. a, res ient ushiq e mi tin d a y s aannu a sect on o a cushi n membe to. e u p r ed b ela i e rea su ace sse n. a co mon z nt plan pr ven a d: e er oration; a d. %PS'Q ll "Q lh Qm m e unde qad;

A; i iur he chis i he i i i Q is he oyipnof a u hion y e fur r lee l deadapted for attachment to an inclined furniture e and w i h he s id rshoe s disposed i plac s bs a ially ar l e to the ger s spQ l r aceastill wi er .1 1 9 f th nv n e s i impr ve the general construction offurniture leg gliders of the resilient cushion type to. pro.- vide asirrnqlev construction, economical in cost of manu re a d; sisi m r d ral ssf s above. an othe a m Qbiects d advantages of the. invention willbe apparent to persons skilled in the art to which the invention relatesfrom a consideration of the accompanying draV and f annexedspecification illustrating and describing several preferred: embodimentsof the invention.

he ra Fig. l is an enlarged side elevation of a furniture leg glider asapplied to a portion oia tubular metal iurnituralegj Fig. 21s a verticalsectional view of the glider bi fninrfi 1 Fig. dis a. transversesectional view as taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2; f

Fig. 4. is a disassembled perspective View. of the. component parts ofthe preferred form of glider;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the base assembly of theglider;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view, similar to Fig. 3, of a furnitureleg glider embodying the invention as applied to tubular legs ofgenerally triangular cross section;

Fig. '7 is a sectional view, similar to Fig. l, of a glider applied toan inclined furniture leg;

Fig. 8 is a horizontal sectional view as taken on the line 8-8 of Fig.'7 and.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the wear plate for the glider shown in Fig. '7.

Referring to the. drawings, the glider is particularly adapted forapplication and use with tubulan steel furniture though it will beunderstood that the glider may be used with wooden and, like legs havingan axialbore in the bottom end thereof. The leg 5;, herein illustrated:as; of tubular sheet metal construction, may be, of; any desiredcross-sectional shape, for example rectangular, triangular or circular.In the form; of invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5 it is; illus trated asof circular cross-section. Such legs, ommonly have a lower pe and resentn edges. 2 which seriously scratch and man floors. and iioor coveringsparticularly when the f -urni. ture' leg is subjected to load. It is acommon practice to provide a glider forsuch furniture] legs.

The glider of the r s nt nv n ion i l des a s pportin emb l t. here iust at of: tubular he t meta c s r ct on w i is m ierable ecause or t e.stre gth. lienes n Weight and simplicity of manufacture The suppor inmemb r ccm tsss a tub l p.051; H apted to be d spos d w thin the urn tue l and having a reduced neck portion l2 at its inner or upper end. Theopposite end ofthe post is flanged laterally to provide a cushion andlider shoe supportingbase I3 and preferably this base is of steppedcross-section providing an annular cushion-supporting surface or 'er'nbossnient l4 adjacent the post and an outer arcu ate rirn l5; disposedbelow the surface M. he ou r per hera m. ic o s t the aboveshoe-supporting portion, is curved downwardly so that the edge of themetal pre, sents an annular bearing surface for engagement with theshoe, thus providing a construction that is extremely strong againstdistortion or collapse even when subjected to heavy loads.

'lhe glidershoe i6; is preferably. a cup-shaped metal;floor-engagingmember fitted over the pe; p fi fil: im. f Qff h as h er ha edge of; the cup-shaped shoe l6 beingYcl enched orrolled over the uppr outer surface of the. rim l5, as shown in Fig. 2. Thus, the outerperipheral surface Ii. of the shoe i6, is disposed irr the amehorizontal plane as the upper sur face i4 of the embossment and. thetwo'prov' cf coplanar supporting surfaces for embe a r m e described- A.cus on mem er 8. e e ably a r er; or like, washer, of. desired size andthickness. loosely surrounds he res a d is d p d o. b su ushi ported; byh op a upp rt sur aces. i4

nd i A wear; plate l9 loosely surrounds. the post ll and is adapted tobe interposed? between the washer l8 and the furniture leg edges 2 toreceive directly the load imposed on the. leg. I. The ear at ha an i Peheralfiaha 21 and. an. inner per h ral; d e 2i lireicr hlr sposed in acommon plane to bear uniformly upon the upper surface of the rubbercushion. An intermediate portion of the plate I9 is embossed outwardlyto provide a projecting rim or embossment 22 to fit within the tubularleg I and position the wear plate relative thereto.

Suitable fastener means are provided for retaining the glider assemblyin operative position with respect to the end of the leg I andpreferably this means is secured to the inner end of the post II toengage an inner wall 3 of the leg I.

As herein illustrated, the fastener means advantageously comprises anarched spring metal plate 25 centrally apertured as at 26 to receive thereduced neck I2 of the post, the outer peripheral edges being notched asat 21 to provide circumferentially spaced biting edges 28. The archedplate 25 is disposed on the post so that its peripheral portion extendsdownwardly toward the glider as shown in Fig. 1. The plate is normallyof slightly greater diameter than the inside diameter of the leg I andwhen driven therein is contracted to engage the wall 3 of the leg Iunder tension.

The reduced neck I2 of the post II provides a tubular eyelet that may beupset or outwardly turned over the inner peripheral edge of the plate25. Preferably this connection is a loose fit, there being an axial playof the plate 25 relative to the post II of from 0.020 to 0.030 of aninch which is substantially equal to the amount of compression in therubber washer I8 when a normal weight is imposed on the leg I. Becauseof this axial play, strain upon the fastener plate is alleviated.

In Fig. 6 there is illustrated a modified form of tour of the leg 30.

' For example, the wear plate 34 will be of gener- I ally triangularshape conforming tothe shape of the leg and has an embossment 35 to fitwithin the leg 30 and a flange 36 to bear against the lower end thereof.The spring 31 may be generally triangular having a long leg 38 adaptedto V engage the arcuate wall 32 of the leg and diverging shorter legs 39adapted to engage the straight walls 3|. It will be understood that thespring 31 is loosely mounted on the neck portion I2 of the post II andis contracted into tensional engagement with the walls of the leg as theglider post is forced therein, in the same manner as the'spring 25 ofFigs. 1 to 4.

In Figs. 7, 8 and 9 there is illustrated a further modified form of theinvention in which the furniture leg may be disposed oblique to asupporting surface or floor and of tubular general rectangularconstruction. The glider of the present invention is adapted to besecured in the oblique leg with the glider shoe disposed in a horizontalplane parallel to the supporting surface.

As illustrated in Fig. 7, the tubular post 4| of the supporting member40 is bent to a position with its axis oblique to the axis of the base43. The embossment of the base 43 is stretched to a flattened condition,as shown at 44 (Fig. 7) on the obtuse angle side of the post and base,and provides a supporting surface for the cushion or washer 48. As willbe apparent, the outer peripheral rim 45 of the base 43 provides asupporting surface for the glider shoe 46 which is maintained in ahorizontal position, parallel to the supporting surface S,notwithstanding the oblique disposition of the post 4!. Preferably thepost is bent angularly to the base after assembly of the shoe 46therewith.

As stated above, the furniture leg may be of general rectangularcross-sectional shape, as shown in Fig. 8. Accordingly, the wear plate49 will be of similar shape as shown in Fig. 9, and the spring fastenerplate 52 will be provided with prongs of a suitable shape to providegripping engagement with each side of the leg 50 as shown in Fig. 8.

From the above, it will be seen that the invention provides a simple andstrong glider and one which functions in a novel manner to alleviatestrain and distortion of the fastener means when the leg is under load.

As will be apparent from Fig. 1, in normal conditions, when there is noextra load upon the leg I, the spring plate 25 engages the inner legwall 3 under tension and retains the glider in place.

When, however, a load is applied to the leg I the force is transmitteduniformly to the rubber cushion I8 through the wear plate I9. The leg isthus moved axially relative to the post II, the upper end of which has aloose connection with the fastener plate 25 and allows for such movementwithout imposing a strain upon the fastener plate 25.

A further advantage of the construction is that the opposed surfaces ofthe wear plate of the post base and shoe engaging opposite faces of therubber cushion, support the cushion substantially evenly and reducetendency of collapse of the cushion.

Although I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of theinvention, I do not intend to be limited thereby as the scope of theinvention is best defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A furniture leg glider comprising a post having a portion adapted toextend within a bore of a furniture leg and a glider shoe-carryingflange at one end of said post, a glider shoe underlying said flange andhaving its peripheral edge portion curled over said flange, a cushionmember surrounding said post and bearing upon an upper surface of saidshoe, said flange having an annular embossment adjacent said post forsupporting a radially inward portion of said cushion in the plane ofsaid upper surface of said shoe.

2. A furniture leg glider comprising a tubular sheet metal post havingat one end a reduced neck and at an opposite end an outwardly flangedannular base, said base being of stepped crossseotion providing acushion-supporting surface adjacent said post and a glidershoe-supporting rim axially spaced from said surface, a sheet metalglider shoe secured to said base and having a peripheral portionextended over said rim, a cushion member surrounding said post andsupported by the cushion-supporting surface of said base and the upperperipheral surface of said glider shoe, and a leg-engaging fastenermember secured to the reduced neck portion of said post.

3. A furniture leg glider comprising a tubular sheet metal post havingat one end a reduced neck and at an opposite end an outwardly flangedannular base, said base being of stepped crosssection providing acushion-supporting surface adjacent said post and a glidershoe-supporting rim axially spaced from said surface and oblique to theaxis of said post, a sheet metal glider shoe secured to said base andhaving a peripheral portion extended over said rim, a cushion membersurrounding said post and supported by the cushion-supporting surface ofsaid base and the upper peripheral surface of said glider shoe, and aleg-engaging fastener member secured to the reduced neck portion of saidpost.

4. A furniture leg glider comprising a post having a portion adapted toextend within a bore of a furniture leg and a glider shoe-carryingflange at one end of said post, a glider shoe underlying said flange andhaving its peripheral edge portion curled over said flange, said flangehaving an annular embossment adjacent said post providing a surface forsupporting in the plane of an upper surface of said shoe a radiallyinward portion of a cushion member which may be assembled with saidglider surrounding said post, said upper surface of said shoe providingan adjacent surface for supporting a radiallyoutward portion of such acushion member.

5. A furniture leg glider comprising a tubular sheet metal post havingat one end a reduced neck and at an opposite end an outwardly flangedannular base, said base being of stepped crosssection providing acushion-supporting surface adjacent said post and a glidershoe-supporting rim axially spaced from said surface, a sheet metalglider shoe secured to said base and having a peripheral portionextended over said rim, said peripheral portion of said glider shoehaving an upper peripheral surface providing a second cushion-supportingsurface surrounding and substantially in the plane of saidfirst-mentioned cushion-supporting surface, said cushion-supportingsurfaces providing support for a cushion member which may be assembledwith said glider surrounding said post, and a leg-engaging fastenermember secured to the reduced neck portion of said post.

6. A furniture leg glider comprising a tubular sheet metal post havingat one end a reduced neck and at an opposite end an outwardly flangedannular base, said base being of stepped crosssection providing acushion-supporting surface adjacent said post and a glidershoe-supporting rim axially spaced from said surface and oblique to theaxis of said post, a sheet metal glider shoe secured to said base andhaving a peripheral portion extended over said rim, saidcushion-supporting surface of said base and the upper peripheral surfaceof said glider shoe providing surfaces in substantially the same planefor supporting a cushion member which may be assembled with said glidersurrounding said post, and legengaging fastener member secured to thereduced neck portion of said post.

7. A glider for tubular furniture legs comprising a supporting memberhaving a post adapted to be disposed within the bore of a tubularfurniture leg and a horizontally disposed base at the lower end of saidpost extending laterally therefrom, a glider shoe underlying and securedto said base, said glider shoe and said base providing surfaces insubstantially the same plane for supporting a cushion member which maybe assembl ed with said glider surrounding said post, said surfaceshaving an outer peripheral outline conforming substantially to thecross-sectional outline of the furniture leg to which the glider may beattached, and a bowed resilient plate having an axially movableconnection with the inner end of said post, said post having at saidinner end a groove for confining axial movement of said bowed platewithin narrow limits, said plate being adapted under compression fortensioned biting engagement with the inner walls of said furniture leg.

8. A glider for tubular furniture legs in ac cordance with claim 7having a resilient cushion member surrounding the post supported by thecushion-supporting surfaces of the glider and. base for permittingrelative axial movement of the post and a furniture leg in which theglider is mounted.

9. A glider for tubular furniture legs in accordance with claim 7 havinga wear plate loosely surrounding the post and adapted to bear directlyagainst an end of a furniture leg, and a resilient cushion membersurrounding said post and interposed between said wear plate and thecushion-supporting surfaces of the glider shoe and the base forpermitting slight axial movement of said post relative to a furnitureleg in which the glider is mounted.

10. A glider for tubular furniture legs in accordance with claim 7wherein the inner end of the post has a narrower necked portion and thebowed resilient plate has an axially movable connection with said neckedportion, said necked portion providing the groove for limiting axialmovement of said bowed plate.

11. A glider for tubular furniture legs comprising a tubular sheet metalpost having outwardly extending flange portion at one end and a narrowernecked portion at the other end, a glider shoe underlying and secured tosaid flange portion, said glider shoe and said flange portion providingcushion-supporting surfaces in substantially the same plane, a wearplate loosely surrounding said post adapted to bear directly against anend of a furniture leg, a resilient cushion member interposed betweensaid wear plate and said cushion-supporting surfaces for permittingrelative axial movement of said post and a furniture leg in which theglider is mounted, and a bowed resilient plate having an axially movableconnection with the necked portion of said post, said plate having aplurality of notches around the periphery thereof and a plurality ofbiting edges on said periphery intermediate said notches, said neckedportion providing a groove for confining axial movement of said platewithin limits, said plate being adapted under compression for tensionedbiting engagement with the inner wall of said furniture leg.

PHILIP D. BECKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,580,781 Bitch Apr. 13, 19261,685,578 Vollmer Sept. 25, 1928 2,238,705 Miller Apr. 15, 19412,249,381 Gustafson July 15, 1941 2,476,436 Trafton July 19, 1949

